This is a printable page that lists the questions and answers for Expedite Base/AIX.

Return to the FAQs question page.

Can I install Expedite Base/AIX 4.6 in the same directory as an earlier version?

You can install Expedite Base/AIX Version 4.6 in the same directory or on the same system as any Expedite Base/AIX 4.x.

Before you install Expedite Base/AIX 4.6, check your existing installation to verify that the file called session.fil is not present in the directory where your basein.pro or iebase.pro file is stored. If the file is present, you either allow the session to complete or reset the session. For more information, refer to the chapters "Sending and receiving files" and "Sending and receiving EDI data" in the Expedite Base/AIX for RISC System/6000 Programming Guide.
[Return to questions] 

If you have any two versions of Expedite installed on the same system, you must be careful not to use the same Information Exchange account and user ID with more than one of the installations, or to take special precautions to manage session recovery across the separate installations.

The presence of session.fil indicates a session is in checkpoint recovery state. Do not start a session with one version if there is a session.fil file associated with another version using the same Information Exchange account and user ID.

I have an earlier version of Expedite Base/AIX, and I want to take advantage of TCP/IP communications.  What do I need to do?

Install and configure a supported TCP stack on your system (refer to "System requirements" on the Overview page). Install Expedite Base/AIX 4.6 in the same directory as any 4.x version.  Change your COMMTYPE value on the TRANSMIT command to T. You are now ready to communicate using TCP/IP.  [Return to questions]

Why are there two profile files: basein.pro and iebase.pro?

As Expedite reads your basein.pro file, it writes the values to its own file, iebase.pro. This is a fixed format file that contains the permanent record of your profile information. Your application should not write to this file or rely on the its format of the file to be the same from release to release.

Using basein.pro, you can easily create and modify iebase.pro without knowing the fixed record format of iebase.pro and without having to encrypt passwords. While you may not encrypt passwords in basein.pro, the passwords are stored encrypted in iebase.pro for you. You can erase basein.pro and rely on iebase.pro for password security. Create basein.pro and run Expedite to create or modify the profile information. If your PROFILERC in baseout.pro shows a 00000 return code, you know that your iebase.pro file was updated and you can erase basein.pro.  If PROFILERC is not 00000, you have a syntax error in basein.pro that you must correct before you can proceed.

Do not erase iebase.pro because it is the permanent record of your profile. To modify fields in iebase.pro, use basein pro. [Return to questions]

How do I delete fields from the profile?

Remember that removing a command or parameter from basein.pro does not change iebase.pro.  If you want to use basein.pro to delete a value from iebase.pro, you must specify that value as blank in basein.pro.

Example: Assume that you have already created a basein.pro and run Expedite. There are two PHONEx parameters on your DIAL command. You erased basein.pro, but now you want to delete PHONE2.  Create basein.pro with only the following command:

        DIAL PHONE2( ) DIALCOUNT2( );

After you run Expedite and see that the PROFILERC is 00000 in baseout.pro, erase the basein.pro file.  Expedite will no longer dial the second phone number.  
[Return to questions]

What if I prefer not to delete basein.pro?

If you do not want to erase basein.pro after a session, Expedite will simply use it to recreate iebase.pro.  [Return to questions]

How do I change passwords?

Example:
Assume you have created your iebase.pro successfully by creating basein.pro and running Expedite.  You have erased your basein.pro file, and you have been running Expedite for a while.  Now it is time to change your INPASSWORD.

Create a basein.pro file and write your new password to the NINPASSWORD parameter on the IDENTIFY command.  Note that NINPASSWORD is the only field you need.

         IDENTIFY NINPASSWORD(&*(#^%$!) ... ;

If you specified ENCRYPT(Y) in your original profile, then you must specify the new password as encrypted.

After Expedite runs, and the PROFILERC is 00000 in baseout.pro, erase your basein.pro file. The password has been changed.  It does not matter whether you had a successful session or not, your iebase.pro file has been updated with the new password and Expedite handles the rest.  Expedite moves the NINPASSWORD to the INPASSWORD field in iebase.pro and sets NINPASSWORD to blank.  If there is a restart problem and Expedite cannot determine if the password was changed, it keeps a record of the old password and makes the correct decisions the next time it runs.

Note: Even if you did not connect to the network, if your PROFILERC is 00000, you must still erase the basein.pro file so that Expedite does not attempt to change the password again. [Return to questions]

In your basein.pro file, specify NINPASSWORD on the IDENTIFY command:

  IDENTIFY INPASSWORD(inpass1)  NINPASSWORD(inpass2) ... ;

The next time Expedite runs, it will attempt to change the password.  After Expedite completes, if PROFILERC is 00000, then check iebase.pro (column 25) to see if the field (8 characters) is blank. Even if the PROFILERC is 00000, the password may not have been changed if there was a problem connecting to Information Exchange, or if there was an error starting a session or changing the password.  If the field at column 25 is blank, you can be sure Expedite successfully changed the password even if other session errors did occur.

Once Expedite changes the password, you must update basein.pro to move NINPASSWORD to INPASSWORD and remove NINPASSWORD from basein.pro.  If the iebase.pro field is not blank, then leave NINPASSWORD and INPASSWORD fields as they are and run Expedite again until the field is blank. [Return to questions]

What is the format of iebase.pro?

Remember that your application should never write to iebase.pro. Following is the format of the first few fields in iebase.pro that you can use to examine the password fields:

[Return to questions]

How does session-level recovery work?

Sometimes, particularly on a dial connection, the connection is lost and data transmission is interrupted. If you are sending large amounts of data, it may take a long time to resend the data if you have a low-speed modem or an unreliable dial connection.

To reduce the time to complete a session that may be interrupted, Expedite Base/AIX supports checkpoint recovery; that is, it takes checkpoints with Information Exchange during the session and records the information in its session file. If the session is interrupted, Expedite can resume the session at the last checkpoint by reading the restart information from the session file.  [Return to questions]

Expedite provides several different options for session recovery.  How do I know which one to choose?

To select a checkpoint level to meet your needs, you need to understand how Information Exchange uses checkpoints, or commits. Information Exchange does not deliver a file until it is completely committed. That is, if the session breaks and the file is partially sent, Information Exchange does not deliver the partial file. Instead, Information Exchange waits until you resume the session and either cancel the partially sent file, or transmit the remaining characters from the file.

By default, Expedite uses checkpoint-level session recovery. With this type of recovery, Expedite takes checkpoints during the session after a certain number of characters are transmitted. The number of characters between commits is determined by your commit data setting on the transmit profile command. This is the most efficient way to do recovery.
[Return to questions]

What about file-level recovery?

In some scenarios, it is desirable for a file to be committed in its entirety rather than in segments. For example, when sending EDI data with multiple envelopes in a single file, the envelopes are sent as individual files. Using check-point level recovery, partial envelopes may be committed when the session is interrupted. This is not an issue if you want to resume the session and complete it, but if you need to reset the session and complete it at a later time, it may be easier to use file-level recovery.

Resetting the session indicates to Information Exchange that any partially committed files should be discarded and that a new session will be started. See the chapters "Sending and receiving files" and "Sending and receiving EDI data" in the Expedite Base/AIX for RISC System/6000 Programming Guide for details on resetting sessions.

Using file-level recovery, each EDI envelope is committed after it is sent. If the session is reset, you need to remove the envelopes from the file that are committed (by examining the baseout.msg file sent records). The remaining envelopes can be sent in another session. [Return to questions]

What is the advantage of user-level recovery?

User-level recovery may be preferable if you want all the envelopes in a file (or a group of files specified on several send commands) delivered to the recipients when the session is successful, or if you want none delivered when the session is interrupted.

User-level recovery allows you to control exactly when Expedite should do a commit when sending data. Place a COMMIT command in basein.msg after the send command where you want the commit to occur.

In this scenario, specify a commit command in the basein.msg file after the SENDEDI command so that if the session is interrupted while sending the data, none of the files will be delivered. Information Exchange delivers the files only if all the data is sent and the commit command is processed.  [Return to questions]

Session-level recovery is preferable if you want all the files transmitted during the session, or none delivered if the session is interrupted. You may also select session-level recovery if you are sending small amounts of data during a session, and "dial and dump" suits your needs. Recovering a session-level session is easy because you just run Expedite again.

There are other considerations for recovering sessions. For more information, refer to the chapters on "Sending and receiving files" and "Sending and receiving EDI data" in the Expedite Base/AIX for RISC System/6000 Programming Guide.  [Return to questions]

Expedite provides a CHECK command line argument that you can use to check your scripts to syntax errors.  [Return to questions]

How do I use data compression with Expedite Base/AIX?

Both the sender and receiver must have the TDAccess (formerly Comm-Press) product installed on their systems. The sender and receiver may have different systems, but can still communicate using the Expedite and TDAccess products. For more information about TDAccess products, see the bTrade, Inc. Web site at www.btrade.com.

Once the required products are installed, the sender specifies COMPRESS(Y) on the SEND or SENDEDI commands. Expedite will invoke the compression routines to compress the data before sending it. On the receive side, Expedite will automatically call the decompression routines to expand the data.

For more information about using the compression and decompression routines with Expedite, refer to the appendix on "Using data compression" in the Expedite Base/AIX Programming Guide.
[Return to questions]

How can I associate an acknowledgment with a file that I sent?

When Expedite Base/AIX sends a file, it generates a unique identifier for the file and writes it in the baseout.msg file on the SENT record in the UNIQUEID parameter. When Information Exchange generates an acknowledgment, this identifier is included in the acknowledgment information.  [Return to questions]

Is it possible to customize the messages that are displayed during a session? 

Expedite Base/AIX provides a text file, display.scr, which contains simple commands for displaying messages on the Expedite status window. You can modify this file to change the message text, colors, or location of messages on the status window. The format of the file is the same as the format for basein.msg. For more information, refer to the chapter on "Displaying session status" in the Expedite Base/AIX for RISC System/6000 Programming Guide.  [Return to questions]

Does Expedite Base/AIX support data encryption over the TCP/IP connection?

By default, Expedite Base/AIX uses the secure IP network provided by AT&T Global Network Services for TCP/IP sessions, and not the open Internet, meaning that data is not encrypted. With the addition of secure socket layer (SSL) support, Expedite Base/AIX 4.6 supports data encryption over the TCP/IP connection through the AT&T network, as well as over the open Internet. To use this option, you must enable SSL in your basein.pro file and obtain an X.509 certificate from the PKI Services Web site at URL: https://pki.services.ibm.com/. 
[Return to questions]